news, new york. thank you so much for being with us ♪ >> tonight in this election, you, the american people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves off. we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come.

>> barack obama, re-elected president of the united states, battling through questions about the state of the economy to deal a solid electoral college defeat to mitt romney. >> this is a time of great challenges for america and i pray that the president will be skezful in guiding our nation. . >> great to have you with me. welcome to our continuing special coverage. election night 2012. the story of the night what was expected to be a battle for the battleground states turned out to be a one-sided affair with the president sweeping so many important states. it did come down to ohio which put the president over the magic number of 270 electoral votes. virginia, that was a state the romney campaign was hoping would be called early for them.

and just moments ago, nevada was finally called in favor of president obama. florida was another state mitt romney was counting on going his way. at this hour it is still the only state that is still too close to call. colorado went to president obama. ohio made up what was known as president obama's midwest firewall also went his way. wisconsin was an early call of the night which gave an indication of what direction we were headed. and that captured that. new hampshire, another battleground state also going in the favor of the president once again. another swing state, north carolina which voted for the president back in '08, turned to the republicans this time around. what kind of congress will the president be dealing with? one very similar to the one he

has already had over the last two years. democrats will still hold on to control in the senate and pick up a couple of seats. republicans are expected to hold on to the majority in the house. president obama will be returning this afternoon to the white house after a late night for both him and mitt romney. chris jansing is life for us in boston but we begin with nbc political analyst live at obama headquarters in chicago. it was a huge night for the president, monumental as we heard in his speech. how will history in reflection remember this very long campaign? >> well, you know, this was a validation of what the democratic party has stood for over really the last, you know, 75 years. the skountry was at a fork in the road and if president obama has been defeated, much of what he accomplished in his first

term would have been repealed and the country would have moved sharply to the right. the election defended the center. we will get to work on some problem solving, bipartisan problem solving from the center instead of having the right wing and republican party steering the course. >> did the president's speech set up what we can expect in terms of him getting back to work? did it make the broad jesttures that are needed? people getting work work back in washington d.c.? >> i think this speech did have a generosity spirit as did mitt romney's. mitch mcconnel's statement was very peptic, beyond fiesty almost to the point of being confrontational. as said in the god father, this

is the business he has chosen. president obama will have to deal with mcconnel and john boehner, he will continue to have a majority in the senate. but we will have to work across the aisle. but what this election did is it gave him some new tools, not a mandate. that's too sweeping of an idea. but leverage in a budget talks and a strong hand when it came to immigration reform. if it doesn't start to appeal to latinos, it is doomed as a prty. you can expect new corporation from republicans. >> jonathan, thanks so much. let's check in with chris jansing. she is with the romney campaign. a very graceful but short concession speech, chris, and obviously the crowd has not been sticking around too much longer after that. >> no, you can see now this

ballroom is pretty much empty. seven years at mitt romney's quest for the presidency began, it ended here with the short five-minute concession speech. it really is amazing what a difference 24 hours makes. we know from all the reports inside the campaign that mitt romney came in believing that he could and would be the next president of the united states and in fact, in spite of all the predictions that his road was so much more difficult, they kept looking at what they saw as enthusiasm in those battleground states. in the end he won only one of them, north carolina. he won 24 states overall. and at the end of what was clearly a very acrimonious campaign, mitt romney called for unity. here he was last night. >> the nation was at a critical point. we can't risk partisan bickering

and political partisanship. we citizens also have to rise to the occasion. we look to democrats and republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics. i believe in america. i believe in the people of america. >> although he got an ovation, people left here quickly. we saw some of them out in the lobby in tears. but i think they had quite a bit of time to prepare themselves. it became pretty clear not too late into the night the way this was going to go. mitt romney and his family decided to go a few blocks from here. they are staying at a hotel tonight. they have a home just about ten miles away in massachusetts. one more thing, thomas.

he had said if he was going to be the new president he would get a new dog. at this point we don't know whether or not he plans to do that or what mitt romney's plans are from here. >> msnbc contributor and correspondent, editor at large, contributor and president and ceo of voto latino and former national communications director for the rick santorum campaign as well as the managing editor. gang. it's great to have you here. you're all the way over there on my right. your reaction to this? the polls gave the indication of what we were to expect going into tonight but it's more

definiti definitive. >> it's over 300 electoral votes. it's a strong endorsement of barack obama when typically they fail to build any type of majority to pick up on one thing, something that republicans will be talking about for a long time to come, mitt romney did something that a lot of people didn't expect. he did worse among latinos than john mccain. we now know that mitt romney lost by 40 points. tournt was up from 8% to 10%. one out of every ten voters and growing. some of the policies we heard from the republican party and a big question from them is how we can get back on the side of a growing voting block and not be

denigrating people. >> both sides have been spinning all over the polls leading up to this. where do you think the romney campaign and their teams lost any of the traction that they received after the first debate? because there is proof that they got traction out of that. where did they go off course? >> they will be blaming hurricane sandy for a lot of things. you will hear them blame chris christie. i think sandy played a roll but not in the way that they think. i think it was because it was like one long obama commercial. we take care of our own. it sounded the theme of america coming together. government can do something. we need one another. and the president rose to the occasion. we saw in exit polls that it really mattered to people. i think it was two thirds in the "new york times" exit polls. 70% of them went for the president. it was the icing on the cake

because it also showed this is a mandate for more government. good government, strong government but more government. >> the president and his team know how tight this was, but the president in his victory speech talked about his trat tgratitud this. >> no matter what you do or where you go from here you will carry the memory of the history we made together and you will have the lifelong appreciation of a grateful president. thank you for believing all the way, through every hill, through every valley. you lifted me up the whole way, and i will always be grateful for everything that you have done and all the incredible work that you have put in. >> when we hear that and knowing

that we point out just how close this was. there was the mandate definitively who the winner is. but the president knows what got him there is going be the fact that he reached out to latinos and women. that was a real collective in effort and surgical communities to be able to get the enthusiasm to get out the vote. >> i love that. i think it's time for america to realize welcome to the new majority. it is asians, gays, blacks, latinos. and i think single women came out in droves. we're going to see in order for the republican party to win any election they will have to have a come to jesus moment and say how are we going diversify? how will we hit it home.

>> a come to jesus moment. >> sharpening your spanish. >> you worked with rick santorum in the primary and as we have seen tonight for a lot of the republicans certainly in different races and we will talk about them a little bit more, especially the akins and the murdochs who did not win. but does the gop need to regroup and redefine itself about what it means going forward? time to try to get out of uteruses and get out of the business of gay and lesbian anti-policies and focus on what really matters to them. if it is really about smaller government, less taxes, get back on track with that. >> it's obvious. i think the fact that stood out to me the most and we have touched on it somewhat. george h.w. bush got 60% of the

white vote and got 400 electoral votes. romney got the same percent but got crushed. if republicans don't understand that we have got address the issues and problems within the party this is going to be a common occurrence for decades. i did work for santorum and i also worked for mike hukaby. i asked him how he did that. and he said to me, and this ist. if jimmy were sitting here he would approve. >> too far away. >> but he said look, no one has ever caught a fish sitting on their couch talking about fishing. he did it all the time.

he courted those groups of people. and he did things as governor to bolster those communities. that's something we didn't see in this campaign at all. i don't think the romney campaign reached out much to the latinos or any other subset. they figured the white vote would carry the day and obviously those times are long gone. >> let's go ahead and tell you what we know about this senate race. the race is going to go to senator dean heller. dean hellor is going be the winner there. we're back with much more. gep we have julian reid to talk about florida, a state

>> i want to thank every american who participated in this election. whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very long time -- by the way, we have got to fix that.

[ applause ] >> good to have you with me. we're going to talk more about what we witnessed. history being made as president obama is re-elected to a second term in this country. i want to bring back our entire panel. i want to talk more about what we're watching in florida. and still it's pretty amazing to think that florida is still too close to call basically. that we don't know what the numbers will reflect. it's unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, kind of unheard of. >> this is going be the second election psychle in a row where florida is not decisive. i think florida is maybe throwing a temper tantrum and trying to get attention back from ohio. >> you're calling florida the january brady of modern day politics? >> ohio ho. >> ohio ohio ohio.

>> it was a crisis of kpen tency. miami dade just had virtual chaos. there were stories of in the 27thnth precinct they ran out of ballots at about 11:00 this morning and the ballots didn't get there until almost 7:00 p.m. meaning that people gave up and got out of lines. you had lines snaking around buildings and endless wait times. people were still voting up to 10, 10:30. it was just insane. and a lot of it was lack of kpen t competency by election officials. a lot of the vote that would have happened then was crammed into election day.

we had time to speak on monday about this and the problems that happened on monday. >> the super visor of elections saw that there were so many people who wanted extra time to vote and opened up early absentee ballot voting. but where that office is, the main office is is in an area that is predominantly republican community. and up to 31 miles away from african-american communities. so you have a lot of people saying our voters could not get there and it is unfair. >> president obama's re-election may have come down to key voting demographics. al alex witt is joining us.

>> let's take a look just how the president won re-election. some said his challenge would be to avoid a big loss among white voters. it looks like it is exactly what he did. the president got 43% of the white vote in 2008. a lot less than his opponent but still enough to win. let's look here at 2012. you will see what happened here. not far off. 40% of the white vote. he matched performance among non-whites. however, let's look at another graphic. he benefitted from the gender gap. his edge among women? look at that. a 12 point edge. also important was the youth vote. 60% voting for him.

down a little from four years ago. >> we will talk about shortly. let's talk more about the numbers that alex was demonstrating, dig into the race issue as well and president obama being able to get the numbers that we needed. it was not the turn-out that we saw in '08 but still monumental. >> no question about it. the unfortunate truth is that president obama had multiple paths to victory yesterday evening. the reason why is that the democrats understand that quite frankly the 21st century campaign recognizes that america is getting browner and browner and browner. that's what the republican party needs to do. the mathematicians, i'm one of

those individuals and the individuals who kind of say you know what? let us be ronald reagan or barry gold water and let us speak to our conservative values and the truth will set us free. but numbers simply do not add up. you need to speak to brown people and come up with policies. that's the conversation that republicans will have starting in about five minutes from now. >> the gender gap that we saw. obviously an earlier polling there was a wider gap. it looked a lightle tighter as we got closer. women had a candidate of choice. i think that the campaign put a lot into reaching them on many different levels. just to go back to race, the other thing that has happened here is that president obama did

have that mid western firewall. and the people who really came out for them there were white working class women. he put together an economic populas message as well as a message of freedom. issues like contraception are not just lifestyle issues but also economic issues. the president's message wound up being really consistent and able to reach a lot of different groups at the same time. >> i spoke to an obama official today who didn't want to go on record discussing the racial separation issues but what they did say not for at bugs was look, this is the break down that any white incouple pant visit wouls also face. the party goes back to lbj. having said that it is true that this share of the white vote is

lower than any democratic candidate has gotten back to 2000. so the big question is do they want to continue to traffic in that and polarize that will not benefit them or back out of that? the share of young voters increased. all the talk about enthusiasm, there were more young people voting. >> a great segue. it was a huge night for marriage equality. same-sex marriage measures pazed by popular vote. >> in maine, voters created the right to have marriage equality in that state. and in maryland it has also passed a referendum upholding marriage equality.

the same is true for washington state. then there were votes to ban same-sex marriage and in doing so they would amend their constitution. we're keeping a very close eye on what's taking place on there. people across the country have struck it down 32 different times. we all remember what happened in '08, with proposition eight in california. only six other state and washington d.c. have legislated marriage equality. my panel have all turned. but we got take a quick break. don't go anywhere. you are watching the place for politics and they all have something to say about marriage equality, as do i but i will

wait until after the break.

>> i want to thank my friend and partner the last four years, america's happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope for, joe biden. >> welcome back, everybody. it is 3:32 here on the east coast in new york. 12:32 out west and it's great to have you with us as president obama has been re-elected. let's look at the states that brought him over the threshold, the 270 needed. as of right now president obama has a projected 303, this mitt romney's 206. the states and district of

columbia went blue while romney took 24 states. so far the only swing state that swung for mitt romney is north carolina. we also have jo ann reed and robert. we talked about marriage equality and the big things we had seen take place this evening. we were talking about the youth vote. but that had to be make a big difference in states like maryland and maine and also in washington state where -- and just to be clear about this, those were places where people were to vote yes if they were for marriage equality. in minnesota it's a no vote if you are against having the state constitution amended to ban marriage equality. hopefully i was explaining that correctly. >> thank you. >> this is classic late night talk. >> the insomniacs out there know

what i'm talking about. it could be down to the youth vote. this is a non-issue. >> it's a non-issue. and we are in an exciting place for those of us who really believe in this progress. we're not just talking about winning skirmishes. we're talking about racial issues and equality issues is really where young people not only think that these right to fly -- which i think is a founding creed which this country has paddled over for a long time. it's not about gay marriage. it's about marriage equality and the fact that you have a right to marry.

>> that is something that barack obama spoke to tonight beautifully and in a way that i think was evoktive for a lot of people. one more data point to not just be in the clouds. the obama campaign registered over 1 million new voters this cycle. that is more than they registered in 2008. as for the zombie narrative. >> i need to ask you guys, your vote keked to rick santorum. he is anti-marriage equality, anti-gay and lesbian rights. as the gop looks to the long gain because they would like to get back into the white house one day. and this election as we look at these numbers may prove that that's a long shot. unless they redefine the target

of people. >> first of all i would object the notion that rick santorum is against gay rights because he doesn't view marriage as a right. it is a definition. >> do they have a right to serve in the military? >> from a marriage standpoint, that's his talking point. >> i made a great point. i think people in this country n now. >> we knew there would be an under yurnt. was there going to be the push for romney that would win him some of these states? and it wasn't. it was a complete domination

with the youth vote and it was not tapped into. and no one saw it coming. that's the end of it. >> and we're looking at kids showing up outside of the white house tonight. i know as you know, the latino vote was huge. but there will be expectations in the next four years from this president. certainly from congress. we will talk about that when we get back. also we will drill down more. the break down on who has control of the house. all races have been decided. but in montana, the incumbent is a small lead. and then in north dakota north dakota, heidi

>> i think that the electoral spank something profound and when you get your behinds spanked, you have to pay attention to the reasons why. >> that was michael steel that gave the description of what happened this evening. one of the biggest stories of

the night is who would win control of congress and lead the way working with or against the president. we can now project that democrats have maintained control of the senate. and our projections show that the republicans have maintained their sizable lead in the house. elizabe elizabeth warren has been declared the winner. >> and despite the odds, you elected the first woman senator to the -- >> another key senate race happened in missouri. it got a lot of national attention. senator claire mccaskill managing to fend off todd akin. here is what she had to say. >> i will continue to be a senator that works across the aisle in a bipartisan way to

find the compromises to solve problems for every missouri family, not just the families of those that voted for me. >> democrats may have maintained control in the senate but they did not keep their seat in the state of nebraska. here is fischer talking to her supporters. >> i will work hard. i will serve you with honesty and integrity. you know what? we're going to build a better america. thank you. [ applause ] >> and to cap off what was truly a big night for women who were running, tammy bald winn defeated tommy thompson. baldwin talked about the path ahead. >> i believe in wisconsin's workers and a work ethic that i will fight for every day.

but, i also believe that we can only move forward if we move forward together. >> and we bring back our entire panel joining us in this discussion. jimmy, let's talk about your observations, the big wins from tonight. what strikes you the most? >> first openly gay woman in the united states senate in the history of the country. it's a big deal. black man to the senate, a woman to the senate. this to the gay community is just as big. not because she defeated tommy thompson, but because she's openly gay. it's huge. the first black president, the first gay senator. it's big. and it's a great thing. the democrats held on to a seat that they should have held on to. the elizabeth warren seat is a

really big deal, too. he made a couple of bad votes. first one he voted against the president's nominee. he voted against a woman for the supreme court. that was a big mistake. and the second one was he voted for -- against the bank -- the dod frank bill. sorry. it's 3:00 in the morning. he took more money from wall street than any other sitting senator. that's something people in the commonwealth look at. other parts say no, i don't think that represents our values. he was defeated tonight by a handy margin. here is an interesting thing. if hillary clinton does step down as secretary of state. if barack obama nominates john kerry, if he is confirmed by his own chamber, guess who runs for that seat? the guy that just lost to

elizabeth warren. you have huge gains tonight. you have got a couple of outstanding seats as well. we will see how those play out. i think we have a couple others out there. >> we know how the balance of congress is going to be made up. we need to talk about the agenda. mitch mcconnel, i know we have a graphic of that. i could read it directly off the set. we don't have the graphic unfortunately. okay. but basically it wasn't the most resounding yes i'm going work with president obama. robert, let me ask you, with the fact that mitch mcconnel is coming out holding nothing back, basically and the vice president said that maybe the fever would break. do we think that mitch still has a fever going forward? >> mitch has two issues going on. first he is running for

re-election in 2014 in kentucky. what mitch does not want is a tea party challenge that happened with his friends. number two there could be a challenge from the right within the senate caucus. i hate to say this. if mitch mcconnel goes too far to the left what he is doing is he is making sure that his home fires keep burning and the process hopefully does not have a challenger on the far right. tonight is very, very historic for a lot of reasons and one would think that the minority leader would go in terms of rhetoric. >> thank you for saying that. but with all due respect, and i do respect you. this is what is going on here. mitch mcconnel is worried about people to his right both in his own caucus and in his own state and he's going to come out and

disrespect the president like that. >> i want to read what mcconnel had said. he started sending sincere congratulations. he said the american people did two things. they gave president obama a chance to fix the problems that he admits he efailed to solve and the voters have not endorsed the failures or excesses but simply given him more job to finish the job they asked him to do together after two years of one party control. all right. so when we come back we will dig deeper into the counties that decided this election. richard will be standing by with that. stick around. we're back with much more here on nbc. >> whether i earned your vote or not, i have listened to you. i have learned from you. >> is that you? >> and you have made me a better

president. and with your stories and your struggles, i returned to the white house more determined and more inspired than ever about the work left to do and the future that lies ahead.

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visit call2recycle.org. >> you know that is all we have heard about and it turns out that it did indeed come down to the crucial state of ohio. richard? >> at 11:30 p.m. last night this was the concern. a high number of uncounted

ballots in ohio gave team romney and republican strategists some pause. and they were concerned about an unusually high number of provisional ballots. those are given when id is not sufficient. they are counted later if the voter is deemed to be proper. in northern parts of the state right around here. when they are looking at that, that is what concerns republicans. that is democratic territory. but when you drill down and look at the county it, look back to 2008. and that bounce, the margin that president won in the last election a 2-1 margin, basically. tonight is pretty similar to what was happening earlier.

a 2-1 margin. when they looked, 750,000, roughly, in the strong democratic areas, that's the number of votes there. and then in the areas where it was strong republican that number was about 140,000. so if you just follow these margins there, looking at those characteristics and it trended that way the president would maintain his margin and may have risen. so mathematically, at this moment, it doesn't matter because of nevada as well as virginia now going forthe president. we look at ohio. it's certainly a state where the president's field offices on the ground were three times the size of romneys and it may have paid off. >> both sides not taking chances in ohio. richard, thanks so much. both the campaigns in the last days, and certainly in the time leading up to the last days their push was through ohio

constantly. and we all know that the auto bailout played big there. but mitt romney doubling down on the remarks about the fact that they would be shipping jobs to china and jeep coming out saying your pants are on fire on this one. is that the straw that broke the camel's back where people thought i don't know if we can trust him? >> chrysler was getting calls. he really served to put fear in the hearts of people but they were able to confirm that they had jobs. and i think to see the auto leaders come out and rebuke him really did d -- all the fact checkers said our campaign is not going to be dictated to by fact checkers but when you have chrysler and gm saying you are a liar, sir, poor piniccio. >> if anything that was testament of we're done.

what's interesting with ohio, actually the youth -- there is a larger portion of latino youth in ohio than there are white youth. but owe see how they broke for obama close to 82%. you look at the latino vote in ohio, virginia, florida. it was literally almost a latino firewall in areas that it really matters. >> thomas takes such a good point. i worked as a field organizer in ohio. >> i got to hit this right. much more coming up after this. don't go away. the historic elect a heart attack?

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and then of course that means that a whole new future opens up for some republicans. now you have a whole new set of contenders who are considering their options, not the least of whom will be his running mate, palm ryan. >> chris, thanks so much pip want to bring back in our political panel.

joan walsh also with us. and former aide to senator rick santorum, robert. it's good to have you with me as we round the second hour here of our overnight coverage. and this has opinion an interesting night. for all of us who have been covering this wild and epic dance, here we are. now we get to look at the results and facts and data. as chris was saying, it's undefined and not clear where mitt romney fits into the party going forward. and of course your heart goes out to the family, to mitt romney, to ann romney, they put their heart and soul into this and you got to want this with the white hot passions of a

thousand sons because it's a hard slog to get this far. but what is a defined role for him going forward, if any? >> i don't know that there is one buttism know that this defeat will -- there lab lft people who jump on and try to assess blame very quickly and we'll be poring through this for weeks but i think what's going to be one of the more interesting things to pay attention to in the coming days, the party is going to be such where the right will say, see, this is what we talked, about he needed to say conservative and say true to his conservative right-wing principles and he tried to go to the middle and he lost. the moderates are going to say, see, they made him tack too far to the right in the primary and when he tried to go back, he lost. there are going to be warring factions within the party. >> if you show up with your core on day one and your core is in tact of who in the hell you are, how can anybody, left, right,

center point a finger at you a and say you're tacking off course? >> i think it is the very first time we have a political candidate running for president who didn't have a base. every time he would go into the moderate, he didn't have that support even for moderate republicans. >> joanne, when the pick of paul ryan came, and we'll look at if rob portman would have been a better choice, we talked about he didn't have the home base, did ryan have that in. >> ryan give romney a path for the base that didn't trust

romney. but at the end of the day i think as a running mate he wound up not delivering the goods in terms of he didn't really make wisconsin competitive and i think that the passions of the republican base were about defeating barack obama. they weren't about anybody needing to ratify mitt romney. in a way i don't think it mattered who he picked. romney was a flawed candidate and he was sort of a guy without a country because this was a northeastern former governor in a party that is largely southern and midwestern. so i think he didn't fit and i'm not sure paul ryan really gave him much the end. >> who are the starts to watch on the right? >> you have to wonder if he had chosen chris christie whether he would have wound up in a better place. now chris christie could have exploded and done all sorts of things. but if you imagine chris christie as a running mate, that's an interesting question. paul ryan was the worst of all

worlds because thech certainly picked him with a nod to the base but then they muzzled him and ran away from his budget and ran away from his position on abortion. >> how confusing would that have been to the american public o see a vice presidential running mate chris christie and the president touring together in the final days leading up to election day and having to work together in a common sense way that was to help all the affected people that are hurting, that the run rabble ard to make a good political statement. >> it's exactly as you're saying, thomas, they just worked together and it wasn't about

politics. this will conversation is a little bit in the negative space of the painting. i want to go to the negative things he was opposed on, health care, two talented justices to the supreme court, who were both women, don't ask don't tell, iraq, afghanistan, manager of the arab spring -- >> your skocroll just ran off t wall there. >> not everything was done perfectly but all of it took leadership. i'm into the exaggerating and the numbers are available when i stha on those lists, not all governors, not all republicans in the grass roots but all the washington republicans, all the newly elected tea party members, all of the management of the republican party opposed him at every turn. so to your question, and i'llnd here, to your question, i think what's going to be interesting

is what new republicans, whether it's ted cruz in texas or other newly elected leaders come to washington and say is there anything they might work with this newly elected president on? >> is the onus on the right to do that? is the onus on them to come back and say america has spoken, obama gets a second term, they feel that things are going to get better. does the right need to recognize that and work together collectively to break i'd logical holds? >> to a certain degree and i think you saw speaker boehner do that earlier in his statement. the people spoke as well and they decided to keep a majority of the house. there is no question about it that president obama does have the upper hand from a bipartisan standpoint because the american people, too, spoke and clearly he won the majority. but there's something bigger here. back to your original question,

thomas. i believe that governor romney if he wants to have this role in the party can say let me tell you why i lost. let me tell you why i did not get the majority that we needed to get. if you take a look at the tape and hit the rewind button, governor romney was the most comfortable on the campaign trail when he was talking about moderate issues. he seemed uncomfortable when he had to talk about the conservative stuff. the question is whether someone will sit down with governor romney and say these are the reasons why you lost, number one, the latino vote in northern virginia but also, number two, it was the auto bailout in ohio. many, many people were very confused about governor romney's decision about let detroit go

bankrupt and so forth. >> you can boil politics down to three things, do i know you, do i trust you, do i like you. everybody likes barack obama. at the end of the campaign all obama talked about was hey, you trust me, everybody trust me. that jeep ad put enough people up there to go wait a minute, we do trust this guy, romney's all over the map on this. >> the campaign you want to take on is the obama campaign. you doesn't want big business coming out and having their own campaign against you. that just looks weird to people. >> it's a trust issue. >> the know and trust issue. they didn't know, they didn't understand but they trusted what obama was saying and romney looked a little goofy. >> it's after 4:00 a.m. in the morning and we're still going strong. as we go to break, the president and his family earlier this evening celebrating victory and on the left pretty much the same picture four years ago. the girls a little taller, a

little older growing up before our high

hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org.

>> i so wish i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction but america chose a different

leader so ann and i pray for him and god bless america. income and equality took a starring role. how did it play into the recollection victory? alex joins me on that. >> last year the occupy wall street movement raised questions about wealth. our exit poll finds voters do think economic unfairness is a very big deal. 55% say the american economic system favors the rich while 59% believe it is fair to americans. we asked whether presidential candidates' policies would favor the rich, the middle class and the poor. if you look at this, this is what came down with regard to mitt romney's policies. 34% think they'd support the

middle class, 2% believe they would just favor the poor. in this new question by comparison, 31% believe obama's policies would favor the poor, while 44% favor the middle class. and that explains a lot here, thomas. >> alex, thanks so much. it is fascinating. as we look at most americans saying the economy is the most important issue facing the country, you were saying you were interested to find out as we talk about money but the deficit was a big buzz word throughout this campaign and certainly for voters. do they really understand what it means going forward? >> if you talk to economists

they wouldn't say a 20-year deficit reduction plan is nearly as important as a jobs plan. mitt romney won those voters by about 65%. barack obama won them by a third. my view, my opinion is, if you really think the deficit that is long. term deficit is the priority and you want to do it on the backs of the poor which is partly how ryan does it is by voucherizing medicare, you should vote for them. in households making under $50,000 a year, barack obama absolutely dominated, a double-digit lead. that is the largest plurality when you divide up the electora electorate. the largest plurality, making

under 50,000 went to obama. those making over $100,000 went to romney. so while it's a totally different ball game, i think it's interesting that what mitt romney has and what i think the republican party has is a very strong, very condensed network of support but it's not a majority of this country. >> was that the big thing for mitt romney and it was displayed all through the primary as well, your guy and the other candidate beating up on this, rich guy, income and equality issues in this country and then the damning behind-the-scenes tape, the 347% tape that came out of florida. >> this election many times as we said is about the economy. weep put forth our economic guru, the economic genius. he's going to fix the economy. for some reason that was a difficult sell to people and rick santorum hit on this many times during the primary and that was if the economy improves at all, what is this guy going

to run on? i'm sure everyone here has his own opinion of rick santorum, but you knew where he stood on everything. love it or hate it, u knew where he stood. i don't even know a lot of the people who believe in barack obama necessarily believe in everything he's doing but they sensed a conviction and belief in what he wanted to do. >> what about being outspent sp. >> that's a thing we had to deal with within the republican primary. the analogy was made to the death star, that the romney team would come in and the death star would -- as soon as you poked your head up, they would destroy you. that's works in a primary when you're dealing with wreck santorum with little money, gruch with little money. but when he wins many primary and you can obliterate everything with saturation of advertisement, that's not the same thing against the president because he's got his own death

star. >> no matter what, the economy remains the big issue for everyone going forward. disproportionately the unemployment rate in the latino community is well above the national average. was it mitt romney's failing that he wasn't able to disqualify the president? even with americans still hurting? >> i think what we saw tonight was basically the american people saying, you know, what i actually believe in an activist government. everything you mentioned earlier, whether it was the bailout or cash for clunkers, it was saying we need something more. romney should have played to his strength and started talking about the economy. instead he allowed social issues to overshadow his proposition of working on the economy. >> did it turn out, though, for

so many americans that this election was a lot more than cash? that's the one thing ma maybe mitt romney was a good defined way to maybe get you some more cash but there's a whole lot of other things. what good is cash if you don't have any rights, if you don't have a family, a right to as to. >> i think it was a perfect storm of people knowing their rights would be either taken away or not given to him. but the president in the last year his poll numbers started climbing when he got fed up with congress after the debt ceiling deal. he put on his jobs act, he knew he wasn't going to pass it. he stumped on it for months. and he also became fighting barack obama. fighting barack obama is a winning barack obama. all groups like it. there is a hard core that hit him but that message is the one that lifted him out of the doldrums of that awful debt ceiling. >> hold on. we'll have much more ahead

including a look at the international reaction to these results. first the presidential race not the only thing up for a vote. history being made tonight specifically in support of legalizing mayor ran a usage. a raw however, the effort to legalize marijuana has failed. in massachusetts voters passed a law allowing medical marijuana in that state. you are watching a heart attack?

every 40 seconds someone has a stroke. but it doesn't have to be that way. every day there's hope. join me and the american heart association and get serious about your heart and your health. if you're doing nothing, do something. if you're doing something, do more. find healthy living solutions from the american heart association's my heart my life. it's that simple. man: a boy born in joplin, missouri was fascinated by anything with wheels and a motor. the odds of him winning both the daytona 500 and the brickyard 400 in the same year? 1 in 195 million.

the odds of a child being diagnosed with autism? 1 in 110. i'm jamie mcmurray, and my niece has autism. learn more at autismspeaks.org./signs

hi, everybody. a live look at democracy plaza. we still wait to be able to color in florida properly. you'll notice an empty florida on the right-hand side of your screen. earlier this morning barack obama officially reelected as president of the united states, managing to win almost all of the swing states including ohio, wisconsin, virginia and nevada. and of those swing states mitt romney won north carolina. at this point florida still too close to call. but how the race was won. it all unfolded live right here on msnbc. >> in the great state of indiana, nbc news can project the winner is mitt romney. ohio still cried by nbc news, north carolina too close to

call, virginia too close to call, new hampshire too close to call, pennsylvania is still too early, though nbc is characterizing the pennsylvania race is obama in the lead. >> you were in line before the poll closed, you will have an opportunity to vote. >> looking at your maps and i feel like tomorrow might be a good day. >> the new information is lack of information. the entire high command of the romney campaign is sequestered in a spot far away from where our camera setup is. they're not responding to calls. >> we have a call in the missouri presidential race. we have not previously been able to characterize this race. in missouri nbc news projects the winner will be mitt romney. the state of iowa was just called for president obama.

nbc news is projecting president obama has won in oregon. the reaction you're seeing in chicago is to the iowa news. we have just learned in the state of ohio, nbc news has projected that president obama has won the state of ohio, president obama has been re-elected for a second term. >> he did it. >> with this call in ohio, it is a done deal. president barack obama win as second term as 44th president of the united states. >> tonight in this election you, the american people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back and we know in our hearts that

for the united states of america the best is yet to come. >> the road to reelection for president obama has been a long one, now littered with many memorable moments. let's consider some of the keefe events that led to a win for president obama. the 47% statement governor romney made at a fund-raiser was one of those talked about moments. >> there are 47% of the people who would vote for the president no matter what, there are 47% who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, for housing. so my job is not to worry about those people. i'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

. as we come out of those remarks that were made, it was a telling moment in the campaign where those 47% remark came to light and it was very hard for mitt romney to show up after that and say, no, i'm here for 100% of americans. >> one of the numbers that really stands out is that the president really dominated on the question of who cares about people like me. he actually lost the other three questions on who would make the economy better, who would be better for jobs, who is a stronger leader, mitt romney won that question. but on the issue of cares about people like me, the president did something like 68% to 30 something for mitt romney. james lipton really described his version of what he thought that mitt romney was like. he said he was a boss. he comes across like a boss. i think when the american people looked at him, he never seemed to someone that you could relate to or that cared about the entire country.

he seemed like someone who was looking out for his class. i think that video at the end of the day was devastating. he seemed like he was sort of escaping it for a while. but that and not releasing his tax returns, there were so many things that compiled. the obama campaign sent the entire summer defining mitt romney, defining him as this heartless pollute democrat. that video confirmed it to a lot of people. >> maybe it's a little too soon but the pick of paul ryion as his running mate. paul ryan remains in political life. he kept his seat in congress. so his political leadership life goes on. >> look, we know from history that you can take a beating if you return to some political power base, there's a lot more you can do. john kerrey did take a beating, had time in the wilderness for the party, stay there in the senate, became a senior senator, is rumored to be high on the

list of potential secretary of state. paul ryan is very much in this game while mitt romney is almost certainly irrelevant. one other data point to echo, we talked a lot about paid media and money in this campaign and it can matter. but if you look at the most watched videos online in this election series, for mitt romney, it was the 47% comment, not an ad, not an attack, it was his own words. for barack obama, you go to youtube and look at his most viewed video this entire year, it's not one of the videos he made attacking romney, it's an obscure consistency video launching african-americans for obama and it's all from web sites trafficking in hate against baum. there is something else going on here, which is these things take on a life of their own in this environment. >> let's move to the fact that the rnc decided to bring out

clint eastwood to talk empty chair. >> i think a couple things. let me put this in context. no one knew what clint eastwood was going to do, which is problem number one. when you go to these conventions, everything needs to be scripted. my understanding is mitt romney approved clint eedwood going rogue there. i ebb them thinking what are they doing here? this is not normal, it is not how you run a convention. >> as a surrogate or spokesperson or advocate or reporter, it's very hard to follow someone where you don't

know where you're going. >> i still want to voadvocate tt that chair needs to end up in the newseum. >> republicans across the country blame hurricane sandy -- it's the war on women. >> you can have guys named sandy. it's a gender neutral name. >> i've never met one. >> sandy koufax, what's wrong with you? >> that's right. >> but after the second and third debates, the president was already trending the right way.

he was on the way and romney was stopped. and then sandy hit. it showed that he was in leadership. for the last year every republican that we have had on msnbc, love 'em all, they have bashed obama because he doesn't show leadership qualities. not only did he show leadership qualities but sandy took it and put it into a dispenser and put it out to america and they saw it up close and real how close to the election. it was the most perfect moment if you could and made a huge difference. >> michelle kosinski is live in london for us.

how are you? i hear you chatting already. >> hi. okay, you do hear us. >> surprise, michelle. we'll find out what londoners have to say about this. >> i was preparing a vast amount of material for you. the "independent" says the night america chose its future. last night watching british coverage of the american election, it was jaw dropping. it started close to midnight and went all night long. it was as if we were watching american coverage of our own election. in some cases they were giving county by county results in ohio. can you imagine us doing that for, say, a british election or a french election? it just wouldn't happen. and around the world we saw watch parties going on in people's homes, at embassies and at pubs. we went to a british pub at 4:30 this morning and there were

crowds of people in there gathering around the big monitors and cheering childly and these were not americans by any means, these were british citizens. the first thing we said is are you aware that this is 4:30 in the morning and this is not your own country's election? they said, yeah, it might seem strange they're doing this but they felt their leader's relationship is vital to the american president's leadership. >> what time do their pubs close? >> this was special. this was special. i really could not believe the level of attention paid to this election, not just hear in britain where, hey, we all speak the same language after all but around the world. you go to kabul and they're watching. students in beijing. everybody wanted to see how this would turn out and some analysts

estimated if the rest of the world outside the world had a vote, it could swing anywhere between 75% and 90% for obama. >> thanks so much. voters have rejected the attempt to ban same-sex marriage in minnesota. as we head to break, a look at the president and vice president hugging moments after the announcement that they have won the presidency. can you see the first lady there and dr. jo biden as well.

hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back

now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org. welcome back. two senate races that are too close to call. and then we shift to north dakota. as you can see there, a little too close to call. both coming in at 50% right now with 93% of the vote in. we want to bring back our panel. we've got ari, theresa, joanne, r robert. >> everyone's on a first-name

basis now, i don't have enough time to do all the name. let's talk about the fiscal cliff now. >> i said on your show last week it did not matter who the president was going to be, they were going to have to address this issue. now we know who the president is going to be, we know he's going to have a senate that looks like him, he's going to have a house that doesn't look like him party-wise so they're going to have to make a deal. if they don't, it not so much the bush tax cuts expire, so what? it will affect millions of families all across the country, especially families in high tax states, new york, california, et cetera, et cetera. death penalty, marriage penalty, every married couple in the country will see their taxes go up. that does not include gay couples. so these all things are happening. debt ceiling. it's all coming to fruition, it's all coming to a head and

it's got to be addressed before between now and december 31st. >> you see a kick the can down the road -- >> they'll going to do a six-month extension. you have republicans saying let's get this down to next year. >> this is going to be the true test of partisanship. if will be very interesting. >> we always speak about women being unrepresented in politics. we talk about what women's leadership could mean to the new positions they will hold.

>> elizabeth warren is huge for progressive women, for the notion that you can talk back to the banks and win. you know, i think it also gives as you deeper bench to have a female president. i mean, hillary may run. she probably won't. but she may run in 2016. if she doesn't, we suddenly have more women to choose from. this is a year it was possible we were going to lose women. >> especially in claire mccaskell's situation. >> so we have to thank todd akin and other idiots for opining about rape. >> we've added four women to the u.s. senate, possibly five. that means there are at least 19 women in the u.s. senate. that is an all-time high. we are seeing this step and most people would take a step back and say, what under 20%? >> still underrepresented.

for women that are watching and throwing your hat into poll tex, you're needed. then you swha does it mean to have those women in there? in the case of elizabeth warren, you have a fighter. >> we're going they keep us in touch and informed, they help us work and play. and they all use rechargeable batteries. but these batteries aren't just rechargeable they're recyclable. and more than 50,000 free drop-off locations across north america make it easy and convenient,

we all enjoy the freedom that mobile technology gives us. let's accept the responsibility to pass that freedom on. find out how you can answer the call to recycle. visit call2recycle.org. man: a boy born in joplin, missouri was fascinated by anything with wheels and a motor. the odds of him winning both the daytona 500 and the brickyard 400 in the same year? 1 in 195 million. the odds of a child being diagnosed with autism? 1 in 110. i'm jamie mcmurray, and my niece has autism. learn more at autismspeaks.org./signs u know that every 34 seconds every 40 seconds someone has a stroke. but it doesn't have to be that way. every day there's hope. join me and the american heart association and get serious about your heart and your health.

if you're doing nothing, do something. if you're doing something, do more. find healthy living solutions from the american heart association's my heart my life. it's that simple. make a difference in the life of one young person. my mentor is a role model for me. she told me about all the opportunities that there is in life. she has transformed into an amazing young woman, and i feel so fortunate to be a part of that. i think a mentor can really open the eyes of a young person to all the possibilities that are out there for them if they just go after their dreams. so get involved and do your part, invest in the future, mentor a child.

welcome back. we want to talk about what coalition of states sent barack obama back to the white house. richard? >> as you can see, thomas, the electoral count is at 303 for president obama, 206 for mitt romney. what clinched it for the president is what some called the midwest fire wall. 10:43 p.m., minnesota, long thought to be a blue state called for president obama that gave the president 173 electoral votes at that time. next state later in the evening,

11:09 p.m., we take you to iowa. that is when the president was given that projected by nbc news. he started and ended his 2012 run and we gave him that state, bring his electoral vote count to 250. still 20 short at that moment. later in the evening, finally at 11:12 p.m., three things happen, first obama is projected to win the crown jewel, we talking about ohio. with that he gets and tops 270 electoral votes, hits 275 at that strike right before midnight and he's projected at that moment to be the first african-american to be reelected president of the united states. also at that point, one other projection comes to pass. we're talking abouts senate. the balance of power -- the democrats maintain the balance of power in the senate. they at that point with vice president re-elected, they break the tie that existed at that time of the night.

as you can see the numbers now, 51-45 the democrats with a safe majority there. also broken within that hour, a couple of twitter records. this twit pic from president obama showed "four more years" tweeted. it was his most retweeted tweet ever. with two hours before the day ended, thomas, 20 million tweets. >> social media, it is here to stay. richard, thanks so much. i want to bring back in the panel for their final thoughts. >> barack obama now becomes one of the most consequential presidents in u.s. history. you were talking about the senate, still not a single african-american member. thought i'd throw that out there. >> robert? >> we saw people making sure their voices were heard by knot

by bullets by by ballots. >> look across the country and county by county break down shows it's still a deeply divided nation. >> maria, final thoughts from watching tonight? >> my final thought is that the president is eager and prepared to take on -- to be the president for everyone but more importantly to solidify himself in history, to be a civil rights leader, he has to take on immigration reform. and maryland not only voted for -- >> the dream act. >> joe? >> huge act to elect him as president and a very big night to elect him for a second term. >> barack obama was an improbable candidate. he won with a people power campaign. this is not a time for only celebration, it's a time for work. he's going to need the people to make this an effective second

term on jobs and the bunk and om climate change. people have to get up and go to work tomorrow. >> the one thing we have talked about is the big impact of marriage equality. 4 for 4, big tonight on that front. >> come a long way in eight years, baby, that's for sure. my thanks to this panel. so much fun to hang out with all of you. this has been our special election night coverage. i'll see you later today.

tonight in this election you, the american people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america the best is yet to come. >> president barack obama joins an elite minority of united states presidents by winning re-election and a second four-year material and did it by sweeping through all the swing states with a narrow victory, an election night that was locked up earlier than many of us

predicted based on tight polls in the swing states. only florida remains too close to call at this hour. it was a clear and decisive victory on the electoral map for the 44th president. obama locking up more than 300 votes with florida still out there. the popular vote though shows just how tight this contest was nationwide as you can see there. president obama scored early victories in a handful of battleground states that set the tone for the way the night was headed. the obama campaign knew there was a chance of locking it up if they pulled off victories in wisconsin, colorado and ohio, the midwestern fire wall. the president won in wisconsin, the home state of romney's running mate and where republican governor recently survived a recall vote and in iowa, a much convincing win. despite the much-discussed endorsement of mitt romney from "the des moines register" but the clincher came at 11:12 eastern time when nbc news

declared president obama the winner in ohio bushing him over the 270 electoral college threshold. it was a state where both campaigns concentrated endless resources and energy, battling for the precious 18 electoral votes. it wasn't until after 2:00 this morning eastern time that the president was also declared the winner of virginia, a state he won in 2008 but where recent polling just days ago showed this race was incredibly close. last night though virginia went to the president as well. in florida, the race remains too close to call at this hour. dozens of precincts in miami-dade county reportedly stayed open several hours after their normal closing time due to long lines. the "miami herald" reporting it wasn't until after 1:00 that the last ballot was cast at the last polling place, six hours after the vote was expected to close. this time the outcome in florida will not impact the winner of the general election. in colorado, another tossup

state went to the president. voters in denver choosing obama by nearly a 3-1 margin in that metropolitan area. nevada also going the president's way and in pennsylvania where the romney campaign made a late push in recent days the president was declared the winner there early in the night. the one big battleground state mr. romney did win, north carolina, a state obama took in 2008 and where democrats held their convention this summer. last night it went romney's way. shortly after midnight mid romney ended his second and final run for the white house calling the president to concede this presidential election. he then addressed a roomful of supporters near boston asking them now to unite behind president obama. >> i believe in the people of america. i believe that the principles upon which this nation was founded are the only sure guide to a resurgent economy and to a new greatness. like so many of you paul and i have left everything on the field. we have given our all to this

campaign. i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader, and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america. you guys are the best. thank you so much. >> about 1:30 this morning president obama in his hometown of chicago walked out on stage to deliver his victory speech invoking the passion he delivered after the 2008 victory. the president pledged to bridge the partisan divide and said he'd like to meet with his former challenger mitt romney to discuss how they can work together. >> and whether i earned your vote or not i have listened to you. i have learned from you. and you've made me a better president, and with your stories and your struggles i return to the white house more determined and more inspired than ever

about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead. >> president obama with a second term. we want to pause and welcome our nbc stations across the country who will be joining us for this special edition of way too early. i'm willie geist. kristen welker is still up and live at obama headquarters in chicago. kristen, have you slept at all. >> reporter: haven't slept at all, you know, but it was worth it to witness the historic evening. i can tell you the crowd was just electrified here when president obama delivered his victory speech. you talked about some of the highlights of it. he thanked all of those who made his victory possible, but he also made a pretty strong call for bipartisanship saying that he would like to meet with his republican challenger mitt romney to talk about ways to move the country forward in a stronger direction, and he also pledged to reach across the aisle in this second term to work with republicans, to do a

better job of that, to deal with things like the deficit and also to deal with immigration. of course, though, those are two issues that really dogged the president during his first term, but the one issue that was his greatest challenge to re-election, willie, i don't have to tell you, because you have talked about this a lot, the economy, and that is one of the things that made last night so improbable. he was dealing with an incredibly high unemployment rate just recently really began to tick down below 8% and a lot of people said he couldn't get re-elected with an unemployment rate that high. last night he said that he would vow to work with folks across the aisle to create jobs essentially, basically said i heard what you said. there are also some lighter moments, some sort of personal moments when he said that he had never loved his wife more than he did in that moment, and then he said to his two daughters who he's very proud of. however, they are not getting a new dog this year, willie.

>> kristen welker in chicago, thanks very much. a lot of work ahead for the president. thanks for all your coverage during this campaign. nbc's peter alexander has been covering mitt romney's campaign for well over a year and joins us now live from boston. peter, good morning. >> reporter: willie, good morning to you. >> so what's the feeling there? obviously they are greatly disappointed with the outcome. are they surprised though at the way though swing states fell so quickly towards the president. >> reporter: i think they absolutely are, willie. i heard from an adviser close to the campaign who wrote me before the night had actually been called for the president and said three simple words. he wrote this one stings. this is a campaign that only 24 hours ago was excessively, exceedingly confident that they would prove victorious in this election. governor romney spoke to reporters yesterday after the final -- on the final leg of his campaign saying that he intellectually had long thought that he would win this election but emotionally he felt it at

the last rally of the day yesterday in pennsylvania where the campaign hadn't even advised really that they would be there. remember, this was a last-minute stop, a stop, willie, that aides say governor romney was ultimately was the one they insisted on. they planned to go to ohio. he said as long as we're out, let's go somewhere else and when they got to the pennsylvania tarmac they were met by thousands of people who filled up a parking garage where they were and it was at that moment that he really felt it. they sincerely thought they would win which made it all the more devastating and disappointing to governor romney, to his family and so many other peopleere who gathered to hear him speak. there's already i would guess some wednesday morning quarterbacking going on right now about what this campaign should have, could have and certainly a lot of people think would have done differently had they had recognized what was going to become of last night, specifically the auto bailout described to me by an adviser was a crushing blow for the

campaign. that headline in the "new york times" that said let detroit go bankrupt, not mitt romania any's words, he just wrote the column himself. they said that was too damaging, particularly in those critical states and most certainly in the state of ohio. >> peter, one of the fascinating human elements of any presidential campaign is what happens to the loser in the day after, the days following the campaign. can you give us kind of an idea of what mitt romney is going to be doing. one day you're in front of a crowd of 30,000 people with secret service protection and the next day you're home on the couch watching "the real housewives." what's he going to be doing today? >> reporter: he's a bigger snooki fan than a "real housewives" fan as we heard on a morning talk show. thought i'd cover you on that. one of the things that was interesting, one of the conversations with reporters a couple of days ago, a lot of fuss about what the last meal will be for the candidates before the debate, some of the nonsense that gets covered in a

buildup to events like that. a reporter asked governor romney one of his top aides what his last meal would be before he like heard the results, and that aide said to us, and i quote, he said we expect he'll live past tuesday, as if it was his last meal. he's not dying, they say, and as he said to us long ago on this campaign trail he feels very blessed with a wonderful family and quite a good life that he enjoys with that family. 18 grandchildren. willie, consider this. had he won, had we been speaking this morning about president-elect romney would have had more grandchildren than any sitting president in american history. i expect instead of being president-elect he'll return to life as a private citizen and figure out where his voice stands in the republican party. >> in a year and a half after following mitt romney we hope you can return some semblance of a normal life. >> reporter: we'll take a life.

>> joining me now "time" magazine mark halpern and michael steve and the host of "andrea mitchell reports" and a warrior still here with us in the studio after a long night, andrea mitchell. >> all warriors. all here all night. >> none great thaern yon you, a >> mark, let me start with you. are you surprised how quickly the dom necessary fell last night? a lot of people expected being up late in the night and besides north carolina and looks like florida will swing towards president obama. >> i thought president obama would win. the president's team said he had small but durable team that would hold up and that's what expected. it's hard to be an incumbent

president, particular president, particularly one with such great political standards. they customized each state. they knew early on these are the states that will decide it and what are the demographics we have to built, hispanics, autoworkers and state by state they said what they would do repeatedly so i was not particularly surprised. i thought governor romney would win one or two more maybe but the president had an advantage and he kept it. >> michael steele, there's going to be a lot of soul-searching this morning. >> you bet. >> a lot of soul-searching last night before the result were in for the republican party, the party that you led successfully for several years. if you're waking up this morning, what's the meeting like? what's the conference call like? what do you have to do change next time what happened last night? >> i think, you know, for a lot of people, particularly those individuals who wrote checks in excess of $5 million, $10 million, $20 million to take the

senate, to win the white house, they are sitting here going this is won hell of an roi. how do we justify as a party this new position we find ourselves in when you are given the opportunity to really in this economy, with this administration, its record, to make the case that we clearly didn't make so i think you're going to have a lot of recrimination around that with some of the donors. the base which we've already seen last night and this morning starting with the we weren't conservative enough. this is what we get when we nominate a moderate. look, dude, there were a lot of other conservatives in that primary, and if that was really the thing that you think was going to make the difference, then you would have selected a newt gingrich or whoever, so the second guessing i think is not going to be helpful, and i think the focus has got to be now in appreciating that this country has changed right before our eyes. last night was historic in that for the first time minorities collectively elected the

president of the united states, and -- and it's going to be the future. it hit the republican party up side the head last night and it will continue to do so unless they are prepared to address it. >> andrea, you were sitting there monitoring this whole thing last night. what jumps out at you this morning, the margin of the victory electorally? is it the way that the president won? what's the headline for you today? >> a number of headlines. michael and mark were touching on two very important ones. first of all, that morning after conversation which started last night you saw statements by john cornyn who is interested in governing, and he lost the election in trying to elect the senate. he was in charge of the senate campaign committee for the republicans, but he wanted to reach out. mitch mcconnell did not. you're going to see i think a bob corker and, you know, lamar alexander and other as far as who do believe that they have to work, but i don't think you're going to see that in the house. the statement that came from some of the house leaders,

including the speaker, was not terribly forthcoming about any level of compromise on taxes or other components of a grand bargain or returning to that notion to avoid the fiscal cliff. so i think with the house stuck in this situation, you know, with tea party members, supported members elected, re-elected and a very conservative polarized congressional republican leadership i don't see how they can make this work. i'm hoping, one hopes just because as a citizen you want them to work bipartisanly and you saw the gracious statement by mitt romney and president obama saying that he would be talking to mitt romney in the coming weeks, but, michael, bear me out, i don't think republicans are going to look to mitt romney as the leader of their party. they are going to look to a marco rubio, two governors, some impressive governors, suzanna

martinez, kelly ayotte, as well. >> the core, the activists, the base, the fire brands out there have to appreciate the difference between running campaigns and governing a state or governing a country as a u.s. senator or member of congress. it is a very different piece of baggage that you carry because in that bag is every american citizen who lives in that state or lives in that country. it's not that small collective group of folks around your rah, rah brand of rhetoric. it's how we communicate and how we govern. part of our loss on those two fronts we had huge missteps. the ground we gave away on taxes, the tax debate, the ground we gave away on simpson/bowles and a number of areas where we could have carved out the grand bargain undergirded by conservative principles was a missed opportunity. >> mark, after a year and a half

of campaigning and this debate over ideas we have a re-elected democratic president. we still a developmentic senate and a republican house. it's basically status quo. so why should people watching today, why should the american people today think anything will change in washington? >> well, for one thing, which is generally cast as a potential disaster and nightmare for the country the fiscal cliff that andrea mentioned, automatic spending increases are coming that run fathomable. i think the only thing harder to comprehend than how to solve it is not solving it. it must be solved, and i think out of that our politics will change. republicans will have to choose whether to work with the president or not. the president will get an historic bipartisan achievement when he pulls this off and the implications of putting obamacare in place and enshrining it which this deal will do and raising taxes on the wealthy and having fundamental tax reform will shake up politics more than this election since this election as you said

just preserved the status quo. >> one quick point because mark went into this, the way they won, and i was a skeptic about the ability to come up with a computerized model, and it was a bloodless point by point way of tailoring each state and each appeal, and i just thought where is the human element and what are they not taking into account? this is politics. it's messy. it's not an accountant's game, but they did it in this fashion, and i think that this is going to reshape politics because the republicans are going to also look at that and figure out, you know, with enough money and enough skill anyone can try to do this, but they have to change the policies and they have to look at the demographics of this country, and for the first time the house democratic caucus i believe when you look at all the final results, we still have some coming in from california, the house democratic caucus will not be led by white men. there will be women and

minorities that are in the majority of the house democrats. >> and the president winning 69% of the latino vote, another problem for us to talk about. mark, michael, andrea, stay with us. politico's john allen talks to us about how the record levels of campaign spending factored into this race. a look ahead as what's next for the republican party. paul ryan the standard bearer. who is the ideal candidate for a party licking its wounds? for more serious weather head into the northeast. all that when "way too early" comes right back. omes right bac.

hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org. they keep us in touch and informed, they help us work and play. and they all use rechargeable batteries. but these batteries aren't just rechargeable they're recyclable. and more than 50,000 free drop-off locations across north america make it easy and convenient, we all enjoy the freedom that mobile technology gives us. let's accept the responsibility to pass that freedom on. find out how you can answer the call to recycle. visit call2recycle.org.

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i want to thank paul ryan for all that he has done for our campaign. and for our country. besides my wife ann, paul is the best choice i've ever made.

and i trust that his intellect and his hard work and his commitment to principle will continue to contribute to the good of our nation. >> mitt romney conceding defeat last night outside boston. welcome back to "way too early," a special hour-long edition. it's 5:24 here on the east coast. from politico, mike allen joining us this morning. we were batting it around the toll, exit polls, 58% still blame the economy on george w. bush. only 42% blaming it on president obama. this was the case that the president had made over the last year or so. i'm digging you out of a hole. getting better slowly but surely. it's not my fault. it looks like that argument won the day. >> it absolutely did, and mitt romney never ran against that. never pushed back against that effectively, and that's not the

only argument of the president's that sunk. in one of the most fascinating exit polls was that in ohio more than half of the people approve of the auto bailout. can you say mitt romney lost years ago that the editorial ran in the "new york times" with the now famous headline "let detroit go bankrupt." the president hammered him with that, and it really hurt. we learned that senator rob portman, republican of ohio, of course, mitt romney's debate coach urged the campaign going back as far as the convention to go on the offensive, to try and protect themselves on the auto bailout. the campaign refused to. the romney campaign at boston headquarters said people who are deciding on that issue, we're not going to get anyway. it turned out a lot of people and it included a lot of working white males who otherwise should have been with romney and they left him over this issue. >> particularly in the state of ohio. need to talk about money here, too. the early narrative was sort of

that mitt romney would beat president obama using the money game. heard that from david axelrod from chicago. we're the underdog because of third-party groups. we'll be lucky to win this. how did chicago fight that? >> willie, one of the big winners was david axelrod's mustache. he gets to keep it because they won pennsylvania. one of the big losers the super pacs. this roughly $1 billion that the republicans poured into the outside game came to nothing. they lost seats in the senate. willie, the republicans sort of worst, worst case scenario. yesterday mark halperin and john heilemann were hearing something similar. yesterday i talked to them. they knew it was going to be a bloodbath and we got ready for that. they thought the worst case was probably to get florida, colorado, maybe one or two other states, so to only get north

carolina was beyond their worst case, and so the outside money is really going to be rethought because some of that precision politicking, the mechanics of politicking that andrea was talking about shows that they just flat outsmarted them a small way, an example that the obama team gave me of how they outsmarted the romney folks is they were buying cable systems in the swing states to target their ads and the cable systems jacked up the rates. they could see this was coming. they were trying to stick up the obama campaign. the obama campaign realized that they could buy national cable for less than these systems in the swing states were trying to charge them and so they did that. the romney campaign took weeks, months to figure that out and so they were just off cable so there were lots of little ways like that that the obama campaign wound up beeating the

romney's campaign lunch. >> what's the monday northern quarterbacking for the republican party? we heard michael steele saying about it. what will they say moving forward trying to find a candidate, if it's not mitt romney, who it is? >> got an e-mail from a top republican party headline saying our party is in free fall. can't do better than that for a headline. paul ryan is one that's looked at. marco rubio for some of the reasons is suddenly looking like a very appealing candidate, not just because of his potential appeal to latinos, hispanics, but also he has a better way of talking to women about issues. when he talks about spending, debt, he talks about it in terms of their kids and the successful republicans are going to be the ones who find a way to do that, but there's a big republican bench. chris christie is a loser -- chris christie certainly is a big winner out of this. bobby jindal down in louisiana,

so there's going to be a big contest to see who is going to be the voice. >> all right. mike allen, thanks so much, and thank you for all your coverage on "way too early" over this last year and a half or so. appreciate you being with us. >> been a fun ride. thanks so much. >> real quick, michael steel. mike threw out some names there. don't want to jump ahead to 2016 yet. still evaluating what happened last night. >> i'll be honest with you. i think we focus a little less on identifying one person and that, you know, we all just take a meeting and put everybody in a room and all fan out across the country and our respective communiti communities. i've said this when i was a county chairman, state chairman and national chairman. the republican party has got to get to a point where it accepts people as they find them. can i not reshape mark halperin, his view of the world or his politics. if i want him to be a part of my team, i have to find that which appeals to him that i have to offer, and if that's enough for him, great.

we'll take mark as we find him. what we try to do so often is we want to reshape you. got our little litmus test. are you this, are you that? you can't be that. got to think that way. america is no longer in that mindset anymore. we are part of a bigger organism where it's fluid and we have feelings about a lot of different issues and a lot of different times, and political parties have to adapt to that. obama did. he did in '08 and he absolutely did in this election and guess what? 69%, 70% hispanics with him. we can barely -- we're barely getting on to the table so we have to accept our voters as we find them, our activists have to be a part of that to help get that message out there. i think we'll see some differences. put this on marco rubio's shoulders or chris christie's would be a mistake. >> the attempted reshaping of mitt romney cost him this election. >> that's it from day one.

the governor of massachusetts should have been the guy running for president of the united states. >> coming up with us on this special extended decision of "way too early." elizabeth warren helps democrats keep control of the senate in a win over scott brown in that closely contested massachusetts race. a look at how all the big racs s turned out across the country and we'll have an update from democracy plaza. a nor'easter headed straight for some of the same areas wiped out by last week's superstorm. we'll be back to 30 rock in just a minute. a minute.

last night president barack obama became just the 17th president in u.s. history to win a second full term in office when he defeated mitt romney to reclaim the presidency. should he serve out his full

second term he'll become just the 13th president in our country's history to do so. want to sound smart today, tell your friends that president obama's re-election marks the first time, get this, since 1816, that the united states has had three consecutive presidents elected to a second term. before president obama, of course, george w. bush and bill clinton. the last three consecutive two--term presidents were thomas jefferson, james madison and james monroe. all right. let's get a check on that weather system headed our way. nbc meteorologist bill cares outside on democracy plaza. how is it? >> a small area hardest hit by sandy, a gruel day. winds are starting to pick up, and we're going to get a winter storm out of this. let me take you through the coastal map. the first thing we'll deal with are the winds. the winds will whip the waves up. can you see the storm clearly coming up the coastline and now the clouds are increasing and even the rain is increasing in

the mid-atlantic. the wind gusts are already picking up along the jersey shore and also areas of lange island. if we go over it our weather computer, you can seat wind gusts are highest along the gulf coast and down the new england coastine. that's where we'll see the worst damage from the wind. areas of long island could see winds gusting possibly up to 50 to 70 miles per hour. we're also going to continue areas of possibly new england looking at winter weather advisories and areas in philadelphia under a winter storm warning. expected up to 5 inches of snow. airports later today from philadelphia to new york city, especially this afternoon. they will probably be closed. already have hundreds of flights that have been cancelled in those areas so a lot of people along the coast of new jersey and new england, be prepared. you'll go to work today, just fine and when people come home it will probably be heavy wet snow, sleet and strong winds. not going to be a fun day to be

traveling anywhere in this region had a was just devastated by sandy. >> look at path of that thing. people still digging through the rubble of their homes who will be right in front of that. keep an eye on that. we'll check back in with you. coming up, president obama all but sweeps the battleground states with only florida left undecided. a live report from nbc's kelly o'donnell in ohio, the state everybody was watching last night. a special edition of

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yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org. make a difference in the life of one young person. my mentor is a role model for me. she told me about all the opportunities that there is in life. she has transformed into an amazing young woman, and i feel so fortunate to be a part of that. i think a mentor can really open the eyes of a young person to all the possibilities that are out there for them if they just go after their dreams. so get involved and do your part, invest in the future, mentor a child. they keep us in touch and informed, they help us work and play.

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well, it's 5:41 on the morning in the east coast and we have a call that's just come into us in nbc, michele bachmann, former presidential can't date has been re-elected in the state of minnesota by a very close margin. they were obviously counting these votes deep into the might but now nbc has called empaulkman winning re-election in her district. president obama has won a second term. in the end the electoral tally, 303 for the president, 206 for mitt romney with florida still out there and too close to call, and the popular vote, a difference of more than 2 million votes separated the candidates. after midnight governor romney conceded the race in a short speech. >> this is a time of great challenges for america, and i pray that the president will be successful in guiding our

nation. at a time like that, we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing. our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work, and we citizens also have to rise to the occasion. >> and there was a lot of other business last night outside the race for the white house. republicans had hoped to win control of the senate last night, but in the end it was democrats who were able to flip several seats in their favor. in massachusetts, this was really the headline race, elizabeth warren reclaimed the late seat -- the seat held by the late ted kennedy for democrats defeating incumbent senator scott brown and in connecticut congressman chris murphy becoming the youngest member of the senate by beating wrestling executive linda mcmahon who outspent murphy by more than 4-1. in indiana democrat joe donnelly completed his comeback by richard mourdock who never recovered after suggesting in a

delate month by suggesting if a woman became pregnant after a rape it was something god intended. democrats held on to several seats up for grabs. todd akin's legitimate rape comment proved top of to overcome. in virginia governor tim kaine and in ohio sherrod brown won and in wisconsin tammy baldwin becomes america's first openly gay u.s. senator defeating tommy thompson there and in maine independent angus king easily one the senate seat currently held by outgoing republican olimpia snowe. the one notable pickup for the republicans was in nebraska where deb fischer defeated bob kerrey. democrats hold 51 seats and majority leader harry reid has already called on republicans to end their, quote, strategy of obstruction, gridlock and delay,

end quote. still waiting for officials results from other races in nevada and montana. if we go back to the top of the list, elizabeth warren versus scott brown. tight all the way. what did elizabeth warren do in the end to win? >> one thing she did was run as a democrat in a state where the president won by a big margin. she ran a much better race as a first-time candidate, made very few mistakes and will become one of the leading voices in the senate for progress i was around the country. >> andrea, what does she bring to the senate? >> she brings that passion, and from a real liberal left perspective in terms of economic issues, a consumer advocate. she will be aligned with bernie sanders, the independent and several of the others on that side of the spectrum. she may make it very difficult for some of the regulators who are trying to do bank legislation and go along with business as usual. i think that she will be a very

strong voice, and she has that spirit. she's proved that she can be independent. not really reliant on any source. i think that brown was really hurt by taking all the bank money and voting against t.a.r.p. several -- not t.a.r.p. but the dodd/frank bill and also he had to get 20% of the democratic votes to win in that state, and that wasn't going to happen, not with such a strongly well identified democratic candidate. >> when there's a fight in the senate she will be able to mobilize grass roots more than the president can and more than any other u.s. senator of either party. >> a lot of frustration about the races in missouri and indiana, seats they should have taken and creeded back to democrats. partially because of the comments about rape. >> yeah. enough said. i mean, look, the thing about it is when you lay out these game plans and you -- you run these races on paper, it all looks great and then you put live bodies in action, and they come

up with these comments, and the thing about the akin situation was the party ran away from him and ran back to him and the country looks at that and say you're not principled here. we don't believe you on this issue. are you really that outraged about what he said, so those things came back to bite and we paid a price for it. now the question is how do we recover. >> a high water mark. 19 women will be in the senate from both parties. >> big deal. >> and you will also potentially have 20 depending on what happens in north dakota. >> let's bring in kelly o'donnell who is standing by for us in columbus, ohio this morning. kelly, ohio was the state everybody was looking at, the one everybody said all eyes there and we'll know who will be the next president. how did it play out last night? >> reporter: well, it certainly got tense at some times, willie. certainly voters throughout the day when we were at polling places, you could really tell that they had a sense they had a big role to play and as evening went there was almost a bit of

surprise at how early it was called because the officials here at the statehouse had been telling us be prepared for a late night. it could even go into the late counting of provisional ballots that would happen late they are month, but that was not to be. the models that everyone was using to forecast to put ohio in the president's column and then there was a wait a minute moment where the romney campaign was not satisfied that enough votes had been counted yet. they felt that there was potential to close the gap and overtake the president in some precincts and districts that they believed were going to go their way so there was kind of a pause in the evening, a tense time when especially operators on the ground here in ohio for romney wanted to take a bit of a breath, a bit of a delay in how the night concluded but then it became very clear this talking with officials here at the secretary of state's office that the trend was going away from romney towards the president, and it looked like everyone who is taking a look at where the numbers fell, that the issue of

the auto bailout was certainly critical, helping the president, hurting romney, a state romney needed to have. just was not going to go his way and the night fell for the president, and then at that point, of course, people here began to filter away from the republican party, the actual party in the sense of the night when they were coming to watch the -- the returns come in just down the street. we saw that breaking up in the wee hours, not long ago actually, and that was the final sign and then, of course, all the events in chicago, and we also heard from governor romney who was gracious in saying that he and his wife and family would pray for the president and would hope that the country could move forward, striking some of that bipartisan tone that maybe many voters would have liked to have seen more of throughout the campaign. ohio important again and ohio ending up a little bit earlier than many had predicted. willie. >> and mitt romney actually getting about 100,000 fewer votes in the state of ohio than

john mccain did four years ago, disappointing showing there. kelly, new faces to cover on capitol hill. we'll let you get back to work. appreciate it. coming up, what will the next four years look like now? we'll break down the big issues on the president's plate as enters a second term from the fiscal cliff to immigration reform. keep it on a special edition of "way too

if you're just waking up on the east coast at 5:52, president barack obama has been re-elected to a second term by a margin of 50-48, defeating mitt romney by 2 million votes and sweeping through most of the swing states. mitt romney did take north carolina. florida is still out there, but most observers believe given the votes that still remain that president obama will take florida as well. despite securing his re-election president obama faces a challenging second term in office after $6 billion in

campaign spending, the balance of power in washington has barely changed with tough losses in indiana, massachusetts and massachusetts, the republicans failed to take the senate and with returns coming in the republican party expanded its majority in the house by a few votes. house speaker john boehner said yesterday's vote says there's no mandate for further tax hikes including raising rates on wealthier americans. that's, of course, something that the president is pushing for. to the extent he wants to move to the political center which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we'll be there to meet him half war. in his next term president obama will have to avoid the fiscal cliff we've all been talking about, naff date a debt ceiling debate, coordinate the drawdown from afghanistan and also under pressure to come up with comprehensive immigration reform. mark halperin, i asked you earlier but i'll ask you again, why should we believe things will be different this time? is it just because of the fiscal

cliff, and if we do clear the fiscal cliff and pull ourselves back, why does that change the politics? >> if they get a big deal like that i think the bipartisan muscles will work, and personal relationships will be required. that's to me the big missing element. there's in the in the first term, particularly the president's first term, not a lot of warmness between the president and mitch mcconnell and john boehner, both back as leaders of their party. he has to break through with them on a personal basis in order to have at least trust, if not warm fuzziness. >> andrea, how are second terms generally different for a president? liberation? >> they should be, but they can be perilous. remember iran-contra, and we don't have to speak to the clinton second term. there are a lot of pitfalls, and i think the real challenge here is for the obama white house to really rethink reaching out to the hill. i know they have been rebuffed repeatedly, but they have to have better congressional relations, and they need to

expand -- they need to expand the white house beyond the comfort zone for this president. he really has to figure out a way to -- to widen that circle of advice. >> michael steele, give us some hope. give americans some hope about why washington will change, why the fever will break in president obama's second terms. >> as a native washingtonian you've come to the wrong place. i grew up with this stuff. both mark and andrea are right. i think the linchpin to that is his cabinet secretaries. that will begin to break the ice, put those folks in the mix with the members of the house and the senate to develop that relationship, to carry the president's agenda. the leadership, sometimes they may not -- that may not mesh at the top, but you want it to mesh somewhere in that chain, and i think those cabinet secretaries can be very beneficial to this president to help him begin to open up some doors that have up until now been shut. >> we'll see if the status quo holds. we have a democratic president re-elected, a democratic senate and a republican house, not much

has changed. we'll see if the politics of washington do. mark halperin, michael steele, andrea mitchell, especially up all night, thanks for coming up. >> mark was up all night, as was michael. >> thanks so much guys. we'll see you coming up in a special edition of

hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front

and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org.

on the left side of your screen the obama victory party in chicago. on the right, the scene outside the gates of the white house. a night of celebration for democrats as a fiercely competitive race to lead the country for the next four years reaches the finish line, perhaps sooner than either side expected. good morning, everyone, i'm lynn berry. barack obama has been re-elected president, and just as many thought, it all came down to just one swing state, ohio. the front page of this morning's "usa today" reads obama triumphs. just after 11:00 p.m. eastern

last night nbc news projected the president had won ohio and therefore clinched the 270 electoral votes needed to defeat former massachusetts governor mitt romney. now despite a bitter campaign between the two, mr. romney offered a concession and kind words as he accepted the results. >> i have just called president obama to congratulate him on his victory. his supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations. i wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the first lady, and their daughters. this is a time of great challenges for america, and i pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation. >> and then it was the president's turn. he and his family walked out on stage early this morning to cries of four more years. >> tonight more than 200 years after a former colony won the

right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. tonight in this election you, the american people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come. >> and we're going to hear more from both men in just a few moments but, first, let's go over to nbc tracie pots who is live from obama headquarters in chicago. tracie, no doubt this was a hard fought battle for president obama. >> absolutely, lynn. now the cleanup here at victory headquarters. the end of a campaign but the

beginning of a second term for president obama. a birth of emotion here on the floor when it was announced that the president was the projected winner of this long and hard fought race. there was a lot of applause when he finally came out. a lot of time in the 20 minute speech was spent talking about unity among americans saying that we're not a nation of red and blue states, we are the united states of america. he talked about a vision for the country, and he talked about hope. it was quite reminiscent of his speech four years ago after his first victory. he said that we're not talking about blind hope but grounded in what america can do. he also talked to those who did not vote for him, which is pretty much half the country, saying that even though they didn't vote for him, he listened and he learned and it made him a better president and you can guarantee the applause throughout that speech. governor romney, he says, fought for the country that he loved and that his family's public

service should be honored today. president obama leaving chicago, his hometown this afternoon, with his family, still president of the united states. lynn. >> all right, tracie pots there for us in chicago. let's go over to nbc's danielle leigh who is at rom if i headquarters. danielle, it was a graceful concession speech. >> it was, lynn. people here expressed disappointment as they filed out. all of that excitement replaces this quiet disappointment. this ballroom cleared out very quickly after mitt romney spoke. a brief appearance that he made here at the convention center in boston. he thanked everyone for their support. he expressed disappointment that he is not going to be the next u.s. president. he also congratulated president barack obama but the most important thing people heard for him was the call to those who were elected to work together and to reach across the table and find solutions to those problems that have been playing congress, specifically the fiscal cliff, and that's something supporters hearsay

they hope will happen. reporting live in boston, i'm danielle leigh. lynn, back to you. thanks so much. let's go to meteorologist bill karins who is live for us in democracy plaza. bill, good morning to you. people still hanging around there? >> they're starting to break up. they're starting to take some stuff down on the buildings. the ice is still painted with all the red and blue states. it was quite the scene and quite the event. we're going from at that election day forecast into this nor'easter. of course, we still have the big concerns out there with the people in the coastal areas of new jersey and all through long island. as far as the storm goes, it's starting to grow in intensity. from about noon today until about midnight is when the winds will be strongest along the costa long with that cold rain. inland areas will get some snow out of this. we could see some accumulating snow and additional power outages with that heavy wet snow. central new jersey, north and west of the new york city area could also get a couple of in

inches of accumulating snow. the power outages could be cruel. some people got their power back. 50 to 750-mile-per-hour gusts are possible. looks like coastal areas of new jersey that were hit hard will get gusts of 50 miles an hour. there will be minimal damage from the wind but more worried about the high tide cycles with the waves. temperatures are plenty cold enough especially in interior sections of connecticut, southern new york, west new jersey. temperatures in the 20s and 30s. that's where we'll have the best chances of accumulation of snow. a lot of airports planning on closing down as we go throughout the day today. if you look at the snowfall totals. it's away from the coast and the mountainous areas of the poconos and the cat skills and it ends into the berkshires. that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. well, today's forecast, besides the nor'easter, it's actually a pretty nice day out there

throughout many areas of the country. we will see early morning rain around baltimore, washington, d.c., wet snowflakes, no major accumulations expected. so, lynn, the good news about this nor'easter, it looks like it's in and out in 24 hours and a nice calm peefrd for everyone trying to recover in areas of the northeast. >> we'll hope for that. bill, thanks so much. well, there were some very big congressional races all across the country. we'll tell you all about them. plus, it was finally the first night in over a year where the political ads, the nasty charges, and grandstanding had ceased. the sight of the winners basking in their victories with family and their friends, democracy at work. you're watching "early today." i was once used for small jobs.

and i took on all the bigger, tougher ones. but with mr. clean's new select-a-size magic eraser, he can take on any size job. at least we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. what are you, scared? [ dog barks ] aah! oh! [ male announcer ] new mr. clean select-a-size magic eraser. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

well, this morning democrats are celebrating president obama's re-election and their victory in maintaining control of the senate. that is thanks to a series of razor close wins. congress will still be divided as republicans held onto the house. so among the night's narrow wins. elizabeth warren ousted republican senator scott brown in massachusetts. >> an amazing campaign. and let me be clear, i didn't build that, you built that. and despite the odds, you elected the first woman senator to the state of massachusetts. >> well, to brown who conveyed his gratitude in his concession speech last night. take a listen. >> let me tell you something, i have left everything in this battle and i'll tell you what, i

just want to thank you for the opportunity. and whatever, whatever the future holds, i am a fortunate man to be where i've been. well, another high profile, hard fought win for the democrats. senator claire mccaskill. she held on to her seat in new jersey after he republican congressman's todd akin comments made headlines. >> it's over. it's done. it's too red. it's just too red. there is no way that claire mccaskill can survive. well, you know what happened, you proved them wrong. and in connecticut congressman christopher murphy defeated former wrestle iing ce linda mcmahon.

she spent her own money on a lost senate bid back in 2010, but she did manage to strike a positive tone last night. >> a good race and i'm really proud of the effort that we had. well, coming up, affirmative action, smoking marijuana for pleasure, and defining marriage. how did the states vote? plus, president obama's vision for american over the next four years and beyond in his own words. and of course we're watching this nor'easter that's going to be heading off the new jersey coast line. the problem will be the high waves. you're watching "early today." one. two. three. my credit card rewards are easy to remember. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas!

no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] it's as easy as... [ all ] one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. went home and fed her family. now she's helping her community. no wonder it's hard to focus on her own needs. but she's got one a day women's, a complete multivitamin with key nutrients women may need all in one pill. because our focus is you. woman: oh! tully's. how do you always have my favorite coffee? well, inside the brewer, there's a giant staircase. and the room is filled with all these different kinds of coffee and even hot cocoa.

and you'll always find your favorite. woman #2: with so many choices, keurig has everyone's favorite. i just press this button. brew what you love, simply. keurig.

so in addition to all the candidates, there were 176 initiatives on the ballot in 38 states around the country in this 2012 election. this is how some of the more controversial ones turned out. measures legalizing same-sex marriage were voted on in three states. in the state of maine it was approved by a clear majority. voters in maryland also said yes to gay marriage with over 50% of the vote. in washington state people also approved same-sex marriage,

which was already legal in six states and the district of columbia. and in minnesota the voters rejected putting a ban on gay marriage in the state constitution. meanwhile, voters in colorado approved allowing adults to possess small amounts of marijuana under state regulation and taxation. in oregon people voted strongly against legalizing marijuana. while in washington state voters strongly approved the legal use of pot. to arkansas now where residents voted no to using marijuana for medical purposes, while in massachusetts medical marijuana use was okayed by an overwhelming margin. and marijuana use for medical patients was expanded in montana. and finally in oklahoma, voters approved a measure that wipes out all affirmative action programs in state government hiring, education, and contracting practices. well, just ahead, bill is going to have another check of your weather, and hear more from president obama and governor romney as their historic

campaigns came to a close. you're watching "early today." so, what hap pens if i'm in an accident and need to get my car fixed? progressive makes it easy, because we give you choices. you can pick where to get your car fixed, we can cut you a check, or, at our service center, we take care of everything for you. [ relaxing music playing ] [ chuckles ] -whew, so many choices. -take your time. -the service center. -okay. giving you choices -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. [ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean. with tide pods. just one removes more stains than the 6 next leading pacs combined pop in. stand out. than the 6 next leading pacs combined ♪

atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

well, welcome back to "early today." i'm meteorologist bill karins live in democracy plaza where last night history was made. we're hoping this nor'easter off the jersey shore doesn't make

history. we're starting to watch the heavier rain bands off the coast of maryland and delaware. they'll be moving up to hard hit new jersey along with large waves and we expect additional power outages. that will be the thing to watch today. the rest of the country looks pretty nice. the middle of the nation through the south, everyone is looking for a nice wednesday into thursday. there's not a lot of troublesome weather ahead once we get rid of the nor'easter that will be affecting areas from new jersey to new england from now all the way to tomorrow morning, lynn. >> all right. bill. thanks so much. let's get back to the big story of the morning. we know many of you may not have been awake to hear president obama and governor romney's moving remarks. let's give you a listen. here is president obama's victory speech. >> i believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love, it doesn't matter whether you're black or white, or hispanic or asian, ornatetive

american, or young or old, or rich or poor, able disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in america if you're willing to try. i believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. we're not as cynical as the pundants believe. we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. we are and forever will be the united states of america. and together with your help and god's grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth. >> and now to governor romney thanking supporters and his running mate, congressman paul ryan, during a gracious concession speech. >> like so many of you, paul and

i have left everything on the field. we have given our all to this campaign. i so wish, i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america. and just as you are react g reacting, reaction from around the world to president obama's re-election victory is pouring in this morning. nbc's michelle kosinski is live in london. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, lynn. it is a strong reaction. it's on the front page of the british paper "the guardian "america's verdict. it was incredible watching british network's coverage of

the election. it started before midnight, went all night with live coverage of the results. and to see it, you would think you were watching an american broadcast. that level of depth and detail. i mean, in some cases they were giving county by county results in ohio. can you imagine us in the states doing that for, say, a british or french election? and there were watch parties all over the world of course lasting into the wee hours. we walked into a pub here in london at 4:30 a.m. and found people cheering, not american ex-pats, and asked them, are you aware that it's 4:30 in the morning and that this is not your own country's election. they laughed and said, yes, it might be strange to the american viewer but they felt their leader's relationship with the american leader is vital to their well-being and it has a definite affect on the global economy. lynn. >> still celebrating, 4:30 in the morning. not bad.

michelle, you're looking good for being up that early as well. thanks so much. social media took this year's election to a level that no one has ever seen before. guiding public opinion and often setting the agenda. when the election was over, president obama's twitter account officially became the most retweeted in history. that picture right there. we also heard from some who created a great deal of controversy, including donald trump who tweeted, this election is a total sham and a travesty. we are not a democracy. and other people weighed in. this from act tore, musician and comedian steve martin. he tweeted to commemorate obama's victory, i'm he having a tea party. i'm glad he weighed in. i'm lynn berry, this is just your first stop today on your nbc station.

on the left side of your screen the obama victory party in chicago. on the right, the scene outside the gates of the white house. a night of celebration for democrats as a fiercely competitive race to lead the country for the next four years reaches the finish line, perhaps sooner than either side expected. good morning, everyone, i'm lynn berry. barack obama has been re-elected president, and just as many thought, it all came down to just one swing state, ohio. the front page of this morning's "usa today" reads obama triumphs. just after 11:00 p.m. eastern

last night nbc news projected the president had won ohio and therefore clinched the 270 electoral votes needed to defeat former massachusetts governor mitt romney. now despite a bitter campaign between the two, mr. romney offered a concession and kind words as he accepted the results. >> i have just called president obama to congratulate him on his victory. his supporters and his campaign also deserve congratulations. i wish all of them well, but particularly the president, the first lady, and their daughters. this is a time of great challenges for america, and i pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation. >> and then it was the president's turn. he and his family walked out on stage early this morning to cries of four more years. >> tonight more than 200 years after a former colony won the

right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. tonight in this election you, the american people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the united states of america, the best is yet to come. >> and we're going to hear more from both men in just a few moments but, first, let's go over to nbc tracie pots who is live from obama headquarters in chicago. tracie, no doubt this was a hard fought battle for president obama. >> absolutely, lynn. now the cleanup here at victory headquarters. the end of a campaign but the

beginning of a second term for president obama. a birth of emotion here on the floor when it was announced that the president was the projected winner of this long and hard fought race. there was a lot of applause when he finally came out. a lot of time in the 20 minute speech was spent talking about unity among americans saying that we're not a nation of red and blue states, we are the united states of america. he talked about a vision for the country, and he talked about hope. it was quite reminiscent of his speech four years ago after his first victory. he said that we're not talking about blind hope but grounded in what america can do. he also talked to those who did not vote for him, which is pretty much half the country, saying that even though they didn't vote for him, he listened and he learned and it made him a better president and you can guarantee the applause throughout that speech. governor romney, he says, fought for the country that he loved and that his family's public

service should be honored today. president obama leaving chicago, his hometown this afternoon, with his family, still president of the united states. lynn. >> all right, tracie pots there for us in chicago. let's go over to nbc's danielle leigh who is at rom if i headquarters. danielle, it was a graceful concession speech. >> it was, lynn. people here expressed disappointment as they filed out. all of that excitement replaces this quiet disappointment. this ballroom cleared out very quickly after mitt romney spoke. a brief appearance that he made here at the convention center in boston. he thanked everyone for their support. he expressed disappointment that he is not going to be the next u.s. president. he also congratulated president barack obama but the most important thing people heard for him was the call to those who were elected to work together and to reach across the table and find solutions to those problems that have been playing congress, specifically the fiscal cliff, and that's something supporters hearsay

they hope will happen. reporting live in boston, i'm danielle leigh. lynn, back to you. thanks so much. let's go to meteorologist bill karins who is live for us in democracy plaza. bill, good morning to you. people still hanging around there? >> they're starting to break up. they're starting to take some stuff down on the buildings. the ice is still painted with all the red and blue states. it was quite the scene and quite the event. we're going from at that election day forecast into this nor'easter. of course, we still have the big concerns out there with the people in the coastal areas of new jersey and all through long island. as far as the storm goes, it's starting to grow in intensity. from about noon today until about midnight is when the winds will be strongest along the costa long with that cold rain. inland areas will get some snow out of this. we could see some accumulating snow and additional power outages with that heavy wet snow. central new jersey, north and west of the new york city area could also get a couple of in

inches of accumulating snow. the power outages could be cruel. some people got their power back. 50 to 750-mile-per-hour gusts are possible. looks like coastal areas of new jersey that were hit hard will get gusts of 50 miles an hour. there will be minimal damage from the wind but more worried about the high tide cycles with the waves. temperatures are plenty cold enough especially in interior sections of connecticut, southern new york, west new jersey. temperatures in the 20s and 30s. that's where we'll have the best chances of accumulation of snow. a lot of airports planning on closing down as we go throughout the day today. if you look at the snowfall totals. it's away from the coast and the mountainous areas of the poconos and the cat skills and it ends into the berkshires. that's a look at the national forecast. now here's a look outside your window. well, today's forecast, besides the nor'easter, it's actually a

pretty nice day out there throughout many areas of the country. we will see early morning rain around baltimore, washington, d.c., wet snowflakes, no major accumulations expected. so, lynn, the good news about this nor'easter, it looks like it's in and out in 24 hours and a nice calm peefrd for everyone trying to recover in areas of the northeast. >> we'll hope for that. bill, thanks so much. well, there were some very big congressional races all across the country. we'll tell you all about them. plus, it was finally the first night in over a year where the political ads, the nasty charges, and grandstanding had ceased. the sight of the winners basking in their victories with family and their friends, democracy at work. you're watching "early today." i was once used for small jobs.

and i took on all the bigger, tougher ones. but with mr. clean's new select-a-size magic eraser, he can take on any size job. at least we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. what are you, scared? [ dog barks ] aah! oh! [ male announcer ] new mr. clean select-a-size magic eraser. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

well, this morning democrats are celebrating president obama's re-election and their victory in maintaining control of the senate. that is thanks to a series of razor close wins. congress will still be divided as republicans held onto the house. so among the night's narrow wins. elizabeth warren ousted republican senator scott brown in massachusetts. >> an amazing campaign. and let me be clear, i didn't build that, you built that. and despite the odds, you elected the first woman senator to the state of massachusetts. >> well, to brown who conveyed his gratitude in his concession speech last night. take a listen. >> let me tell you something, i have left everything in this battle and i'll tell you what, i

just want to thank you for the opportunity. and whatever, whatever the future holds, i am a fortunate man to be where i've been. well, another high profile, hard fought win for the democrats. senator claire mccaskill. she held on to her seat in new jersey after he republican congressman's todd akin comments made headlines. >> it's over. it's done. it's too red. it's just too red. there is no way that claire mccaskill can survive. well, you know what happened, you proved them wrong. and in connecticut congressman christopher murphy defeated former wrestle iing ce linda mcmahon.

she spent her own money on a lost senate bid back in 2010, but she did manage to strike a positive tone last night. >> a good race and i'm really proud of the effort that we had. well, coming up, affirmative action, smoking marijuana for pleasure, and defining marriage. how did the states vote? plus, president obama's vision for american over the next four years and beyond in his own words. and of course we're watching this nor'easter that's going to be heading off the new jersey coast line. the problem will be the high waves. you're watching "early today." one. two. three. my credit card rewards are easy to remember. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas!

no hoops to jump through. i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. [ woman in pet store ] it's as easy as... [ all ] one! -two. -[ all ] three! [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. went home and fed her family. now she's helping her community. no wonder it's hard to focus on her own needs. but she's got one a day women's, a complete multivitamin with key nutrients women may need all in one pill. because our focus is you. woman: oh! tully's. how do you always have my favorite coffee? well, inside the brewer, there's a giant staircase. and the room is filled with all these different kinds of coffee and even hot cocoa.

and you'll always find your favorite. woman #2: with so many choices, keurig has everyone's favorite. i just press this button. brew what you love, simply. keurig. hey guys, can i get next? here you go kid. hey aren't you. yep. vogelsong and posey did you check the rating? the rating? yeah, it's simple. always check the rating symbol on the front and read the content descriptor on the back now that's a good call. thanks guys. ahh son, i don't think this game is for us. maybe you should get this one. this kid can play. [female announcer] for more information, visit esrb dot org. make a difference in the life of one young person. my mentor is a role model for me. she told me about all the opportunities that there is in life. she has transformed into an amazing young woman, and i feel so fortunate to be a part of that.

i think a mentor can really open the eyes of a young person to all the possibilities that are out there for them if they just go after their dreams. so get involved and do your part, invest in the future, mentor a child. so in addition to all the candidates, there were 176 initiatives on the ballot in 38 states around the country in this 2012 election. this is how some of the more controversial ones turned out. measures legalizing same-sex marriage were voted on in three states. in the state of maine it was approved by a clear majority. voters in maryland also said yes to gay marriage with over 50% of the vote. in washington state people also approved same-sex marriage,

which was already legal in six states and the district of columbia. and in minnesota the voters rejected putting a ban on gay marriage in the state constitution. meanwhile, voters in colorado approved allowing adults to possess small amounts of marijuana under state regulation and taxation. in oregon people voted strongly against legalizing marijuana. while in washington state voters strongly approved the legal use of pot. to arkansas now where residents voted no to using marijuana for medical purposes, while in massachusetts medical marijuana use was okayed by an overwhelming margin. and marijuana use for medical patients was expanded in montana. and finally in oklahoma, voters approved a measure that wipes out all affirmative action programs in state government hiring, education, and contracting practices. well, just ahead, bill is going to have another check of your weather, and hear more from president obama and governor romney as their historic

campaigns came to a close. you're watching "early today." so, what hap pens if i'm in an accident and need to get my car fixed? progressive makes it easy, because we give you choices. you can pick where to get your car fixed, we can cut you a check, or, at our service center, we take care of everything for you. [ relaxing music playing ] [ chuckles ] -whew, so many choices. -take your time. -the service center. -okay. giving you choices -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. [ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean. with tide pods. just one removes more stains than the 6 next leading pacs combined pop in. stand out. than the 6 next leading pacs combined ♪

atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] wonder what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relief ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

well, welcome back to "early today." i'm meteorologist bill karins live in democracy plaza where last night history was made. we're hoping this nor'easter off the jersey shore doesn't make

history. we're starting to watch the heavier rain bands off the coast of maryland and delaware. they'll be moving up to hard hit new jersey along with large waves and we expect additional power outages. that will be the thing to watch today. the rest of the country looks pretty nice. the middle of the nation through the south, everyone is looking for a nice wednesday into thursday. there's not a lot of troublesome weather ahead once we get rid of the nor'easter that will be affecting areas from new jersey to new england from now all the way to tomorrow morning, lynn. >> all right. bill. thanks so much. let's get back to the big story of the morning. we know many of you may not have been awake to hear president obama and governor romney's moving remarks. let's give you a listen. here is president obama's victory speech. >> i believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love, it doesn't matter whether you're black or white, or hispanic or asian, ornatetive

american, or young or old, or rich or poor, able disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in america if you're willing to try. i believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggest. we're not as cynical as the pundants believe. we are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. we are and forever will be the united states of america. and together with your help and god's grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth. >> and now to governor romney thanking supporters and his running mate, congressman paul ryan, during a gracious concession speech. >> like so many of you, paul and

i have left everything on the field. we have given our all to this campaign. i so wish, i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america. and just as you are react g reacting, reaction from around the world to president obama's re-election victory is pouring in this morning. nbc's michelle kosinski is live in london. michelle, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, lynn. it is a strong reaction. it's on the front page of the british paper "the guardian "america's verdict. it was incredible watching british network's coverage of

the election. it started before midnight, went all night with live coverage of the results. and to see it, you would think you were watching an american broadcast. that level of depth and detail. i mean, in some cases they were giving county by county results in ohio. can you imagine us in the states doing that for, say, a british or french election? and there were watch parties all over the world of course lasting into the wee hours. we walked into a pub here in london at 4:30 a.m. and found people cheering, not american ex-pats, and asked them, are you aware that it's 4:30 in the morning and that this is not your own country's election. they laughed and said, yes, it might be strange to the american viewer but they felt their leader's relationship with the american leader is vital to their well-being and it has a definite affect on the global economy. lynn. >> still celebrating, 4:30 in the morning. not bad.

michelle, you're looking good for being up that early as well. thanks so much. social media took this year's election to a level that no one has ever seen before. guiding public opinion and often setting the agenda. when the election was over, president obama's twitter account officially became the most retweeted in history. that picture right there. we also heard from some who created a great deal of controversy, including donald trump who tweeted, this election is a total sham and a travesty. we are not a democracy. and other people weighed in. this from act tore, musician and comedian steve martin. he tweeted to commemorate obama's victory, i'm he having a tea party. i'm glad he weighed in. i'm lynn berry, this is just your first stop today on your nbc station.